Don Oscar Miro-Quesada originated the Pachakuti Mesa tradition of cross-cultural shamanism and is visionary, founder of The Heart of the Healer (THOTH) Foundation. He is a respected kamasqa curandero and altomisayoq adept from Peru and has been guiding cross-cultural ethno-spiritual apprenticeship expeditions to sacred sites of the world since 1986, with special emphasis on Peru and Bolivia. He has been a popular faculty member at numerous U.S. colleges and universities, and his works and programs have been featured on CNN, Univision, A&E, and the Discovery Channel.

Don Oscar's co author of Lessons in Courage is Dr Bonnie Glass-Coffin, Ph.D. Bonnie is an internationally recognized professor of anthropology at Utah State University. She has studied with Peruvian curanderos since 1982 and is the author of The Gift of Life: Female Spirituality and Healing in Northern Peru. She began apprenticing with don Oscar in 2005, experiencing the transformative power of these wisdom teachings and integrating them deeply into her life.